Rating: NNN
Now that Beth Gibbons’s momentarily popular triphop project, Portishead, is all but forgotten, the reluctant celebrity feels the time is finally right to emerge from seclusion with a new album. Even though former sonic conspirator chappie Geoff Barrow has been mysteriously replaced on Out Of Season by Paul Webb, the moody soundscapes aren’t that far off the Portishead track, which is likely due to the governing presence of point man guitarist Adrian Uttley, who has always contributed more than he’s given credit for. Gibbons has a flair for melodrama, and the elaborately brooding Tom The Model — complete with booming timpani — is magnificent, but apart from it and Funny Time Of Year, most everything else is a meandering, melancholic shambles.
